Boyhood (2014)

Read Time:5 Minute, 12 Second

I just feel like there are so many things that I could be doing and probably want to be doing that I’m just not,” Mason Jr. said.

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Filmed over 45 days within 12 years—from 2002 to 2013—with exactly the same casts in only 143 scenes, Boyhood is a real proof that Richard Linklater is not just an artist, but an ambitious auteur with pretentious work. Boyhood is a coming-of-age movie that isn’t like any of it that we have seen before; it’s an actual depiction of a boy’s life span from he’s being a 5-year-old plump kid to he’s being an 18-year-old skinny adolescence with avant garde visions. Simply saying, this Linklater’s magnum opus is an authentic life in cinema.

We have known Richard Linklater for his acclaimed Before Trilogy whose convocations are still warm even 18 years after Jesse and Celine met for the first time. Yet, Boyhood is something different; it came up with different stages of a boy’s life in a 12-years of presentation. Of course, many things happen, many conflicts collides, people grow, fashion changes, tears fall, and laughter echoes; but, there’s no fine line to connect all of them in narrative—as everything flows to where the (scripted) fate brings and shapes a small boy into an unripe man with characters in the end.

Ellar Coltrane respectively portrays Mason Jr., a son of divorced parents—Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke)—and a younger brother to Samantha (Lorelei Linklater, the director’s own daughter). Mason Jr. spends his childhood moving from one city to another, just as his mom lives with one husband to another. Although he lives in a quite dysfunctional family, truly, Mason is just an ordinary boy living an ordinary life—painting graffiti, playing X-Box, loving Harry Potter, and stuffs. Watching Boyhood gives you an impression of watching a semi-documentary biography, yet, everything is scripted and, not quite everything, is presented.

Boyhood gives audiences a meta-nostalgic feeling of how one feels during one’s boyhood (especially if the audience is a male). It’s an authentic portrait of life to shape someone’s characters, but that’s not all, it’s also a cultural portrait. Scene by scene, Boyhood presents milestones of pop culture from the moment of filming—every milestone works as time indicator as well as some nostalgic reminiscent from the past time. You can say that Boyhood is a time-lapse of someone’s boyhood with feelings and emotions as the bookmark.

To be honest, it’s very entertaining to see how Mason grows up as a kid, although some moments are quite uncomfortable for him (like his parents’ divorce, his abusive step-father, also his always-moving routine). Every scene flows like a river to a lake, quick and hypnotizing. Yet, everything gets a little dull when Mason has grown as a teenager and started to “understand” life. I feel so attached to this proximity; the moments in Boyhood juxtaposes with moments in real life—as a little kid, everything is fun although it’s not a real “fun” moment like we seize the time, however, when the childhood’s gone, everything’s full of boredom as the time seizes us.

It’s actually difficult to review Boyhood as a whole, ’cause it’s not something to just see, but it’s something to feel, to reflect, and to contemplate. With his very naturalistic approach, Linklater succeeds in making a great journey in cinematic experience, furthermore, he’s finally able to make a movie lives. True, Boyhood is alive.

Boyhood (2014)

Drama Written and Directed by: Richard Linklater Starred by: Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater Running Time: 165 mins Rated R for language including sexual references, and for teen drug and alcohol use

IMDb | Official Site

6 responses to “Boyhood (2014)”

  1. ruth Avatar
    ruth

    The format and effort put into this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in Hollywood so I’m curious on that front alone. I’ve read that it’s something one should experience and reflect, as you said in your last paragraph, so I’m looking forward to renting this! Great review Paskalis.

    P.S. I had no idea you’re a teacher in Indonesia! Did you know I’m from Jakarta? Well, apa kabar? 😀

    1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
      Paskalis Damar AK

      Really, some time after watching Boyhood, I’ve got a lot to ponder… It’s highly recommended!

      P.S. Kabar baik. Apa kabar, Ruth? You told me sometime before that Jakarta is your hometown. And, you reside somewhere in the US now, Ruth?

      1. ruth Avatar
        ruth

        Hi Paskalis! Yeah saya tinggal di Minnesota (aka Frozen Tundra) sejak taun 1993. I’ve been here since high school and really love living here. My hubby is from Jakarta too, went to the same Jr High in Tebet actually. How about you, where do you live in Jkt? Curious where you teach English too 😀

        1. Paskalis Damar AK Avatar
          Paskalis Damar AK

          Great! I had a student from Minnesota too (like The Coen Bros). I’m actually living in Yogyakarta, but, I keep coming to jkt sometime.

  2. Monthly Roundup: November 2014 | sinekdoks

    […] watched two movies in home (office, actually) during my things: one is Boyhood (2014), Richard Linklater’s most ambitious masterpiece and the other one is The […]

  3. Thursday Movie Picks #9: All in the Family Edition: Father-Son Relationships (Biologically Related) | sinekdoks

    […] Boyhood is an obvious choice for this theme. Although it’s all about a boy with his life for 12 years, there’s no way we ignore the father-son relationship between Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) and Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane). The latter is a carbon copy of the former, and what happen to the latter is more and less consequences of what the former did. Junior always love hanging out with his biological father despite the divorce; they always get in touch even when Senior has already had a new family. There’s a strong bond between the two of them that we can feel—and, oh that “my car” scene in Ethan Hawke’s Oscar nomination scene—there’s no way it doesn’t get my attention. Click here for the full review! […]

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